Life skills will be centre-stage at Starcamp across Mayo this summer
Starcamp will run seven camps across Mayo this summer – and places are filling up fast.
With up to 30,000 children expected to attend Starcamp with Gala Retail right across Ireland in the coming months, the theme at Ireland’s top summer camp this year is Resilience.
Children will learn how to give a decent handshake, practise listening to their inner voice, gain an understanding of looking out for others, and understand the importance of losing.
The camps will be held in Castlebar (two camps), Westport (two camps), Ballina, Ballinrobe and Claremorris. To find out more information or to book, log on to www.starcamp.ie.
Aideen O'Grady, Starcamp founder and director, recently spoke with paediatric consultants from CUH as well as child psychologists, who all openly discussed the fact that children have been left confused about tactile boundaries, struggle with social skills and need to rebuild resilience now.
At the multi-award winning camps that will run in 270 towns nationwide, there will be the renowned offering of camp games, music, drama, magic, comedy, news and weather reporting, make your own TV show, Tik-Tok dances, superheroes, quizzes and talent shows – but this summer there will be a strong emphasis on building children’s resilience, just when they need it most.
Speaking at the recent launch of Starcamp with Gala Retail for 2023, Aideen said: “No one teaches basic life skills to our young generation and there has never been a better time to address this than now. Our core ethos has always been about building children’s self-esteem and confidence, and imaginative activities such as public speaking has always been a staple at our camps in the form of things such as news and weather reporting.
“We feel the time is right to introduce other skills that will stand to them for life. For example, if you learn a strong, confident handshake as a child, it will stay with you for life and it is a crucial part of a first impression. The endless array of activities and games that we have developed for this year’s camp are designed for children to have the optimum fun through creativity and performance while enabling them to develop and grow into strong individuals.”
Gala Retail have just announced a three-year extension to its title sponsorship with Ireland’s number one network of children’s activity camps, Starcamp. As part of its annual sponsorship agreement with Starcamp, Gala is providing over €10,000 worth of prizes for participating children and their schools each year and gifting every young person a co-branded bag and certificate of achievement.
For the first time, Starcamp has added over 20 Starcamp with Gala Retail Easter camps to its schedule.
Easter camps run from April 3 to 6 and 11 to 14, with summer camps running weekly from July 3 to August 19. For more information on Starcamp with Gala Retail locations and availability, visit www.starcamp.ie.